Four football players from Johnson County continue to prepare for Ball State’s season, which starts in slightly more than a month.
Considering the Cardinals are the reigning Mid-American Conference champions and were ranked 23rd nationally after a convincing 34-13 dusting of Fresno State in the Arizona Bowl, expectations are among the highest in program history.
Trevor Hohlt, Clayton Coll, John Harris and Carson Steele hope the momentum carries over to the months ahead. Ball State opens the season at home on Sept. 2 — a Thursday night contest against Western Illinois — before visiting contrasting sides of the country with games at Penn State and Wyoming.
A look at each of the players and how they potentially fit to head coach Mike Neu’s plans this season:
Trevor Hohlt, WR, fifth-year senior
The former Center Grove two-sport athlete graduated from Ball State last spring with a bachelor’s degree in professional sales, and he has started his pursuit of an MBA.
And though the 5-foot-11, 186-pound slot receiver would be eligible to play for the Cardinals in 2022 if he so desired, he’s treating this season as his final tour of all things college football.
“I technically have two years left, but I’m looking at this as my senior year,” Hohlt said. “After the COVID year and the success we had as a team last season, we all got together and decided to do it again. We have something like 20 of the 22 starters back from last year’s team.”
The Cardinals were playing their second game against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 11 when Hohlt, credited with a nine-yard reception in the opener, suffered a season-ending injury to his right Achilles tendon.
“Basically, I was having issues with my Achilles all that week. I just thought it was sore,” Hohlt said. “I kept icing it, but (in the) game, I just planted wrong.”
Hohlt has since had sufficient time to recover and resume preparations for what he hopes is a productive final season in a Ball State uniform.
“Right now, I’m 100 percent, and am at the eight- or nine-month mark of my recovery,” said Hohlt, whose brother Ty, a 2021 Center Grove graduate, will soon start his freshman year at Ball State and plans to be a manager for the football team. “I got cleared to practice at six months.
“I want to have a bigger role on the team this year, make a lot of catches and have fun with my team while I’m doing it.”
Clayton Coll, ILB, junior
Coll’s blond hair passed his shoulders a long time ago. That fact, along with with the 2000 movie “Remember the Titans” inspired a scheme that Cardinals defensive coordinator Tyler Stockton refers to as the Sunshine package.
Ball State implemented it to perfection in the Mid-American Conference championship game, a 38-28 victory over Buffalo in which Coll, then a sophomore inside linebacker, effectively played safety to help stymie the Bulls’ vaunted ground attack.
The former Franklin player stepped up with a career-high six tackles, nearly one-third of his season total of 19. Buffalo, which took the Ford Field turf in Detroit averaging 311 yards rushing per game, finished with 146 yards on 29 carries against the Cardinals.
This season, Coll, who remains behind redshirt seniors Brandon Martin and Jaylin Thomas on the BSU depth chart as preseason practices get under way, hopes to play a bigger role for Stockton’s defense.
“I would like to be in the mix a little more,” said Coll, who also is a special teams mainstay. “Last season I was on the field for about 50 snaps against Buffalo and a little less than that against Western Michigan (a 30-27 Ball State win in Week 6).”
Coll, too, will have a sibling as part of the BSU football program. Older brother Casey joins the Cardinals as a graduate student after playing tight end for NAIA powerhouse St. Francis, where he totaled 31 receptions for 314 yards and five touchdowns over three seasons.
“In a lot of ways it’s kind of how it was in high school,” Clayton said, “only now I’m the older guy because this is my third year at Ball State.”
John Harris, NT, redshirt sophomore
The Roncalli graduate and Greenwood resident is anywhere from five to 10 pounds lighter than his 2020 playing weight, the result of the customary offseason conditioning combined with a more disciplined approach to his diet.
“I feel good,” the 6-2, 275-pound Harris said. “I feel solid, if that makes sense.”
Harris made three tackles last season. He is the team’s No. 1 pass-rushing nose tackle and second on the depth chart behind senior Justin Ramsey, one of many Cardinals who opted to use the additional year of athletic eligibility made possible by the pandemic.
That ultimately will possibly benefit Harris as well. In terms of eligibility, he has four seasons ahead of him should he choose to play college football that long. Harris, a construction management major, turns 21 on Aug. 16.
“I’ve definitely been on both ends of this, but it depends on how my body feels and how my degree goes,” said Harris, who would like to get his master’s degree. “Last year, I averaged about 12-15 plays a game, but in two or three of them I got up to 20. I’m ready to play as many as the team needs me to play.”
Carson Steele, RB, freshman
Strange as it sounds, Center Grove’s all-time rushing leader and Indiana’s most recent Mr. Football has yet to settle on a jersey number for the next phase of his career.
It is down to two, however.
“They have me wearing No. 33, but an older guy on the team who has No. 30 might be switching to a single-digit number,” said Steele, who at 6-3 and 220 pounds is the largest running back on the BSU roster. “I would definitely like to get 30 again, but anything works for me.”
Steele ran for 1,659 yards and 31 touchdowns last fall in helping lead the Trojans to the Class 6A state championship. Other postseason honors included being named MaxPreps Indiana Player of the Year and Daily Journal Offensive Player of the Year.
In all, Steele owns 16 single-season or career records at Center Grove, including rushing yards (5,907) and rushing touchdowns (82). His height, weight, strength and balance could make him a viable option in the backfield now that former Cards running back Caleb Huntley is with the Atlanta Falcons. Ball State does return a trio of proven ball carriers in Tye Evans, Will Jones and Justin Hall.
Being redshirted is always a possibility, but Steele is doing everything in his power to avoid it.
“My big goal is to play this year and not be redshirted. That’s not my first choice, but if it happens you would trust the process,” he said. “Right now, it’s just like walking into your high school your freshman year. You kind of start the process all over again.”
